October 2008

October 31, 2008

A series of "instructional" videos spoofing the accents and techniques of members of the Furman coaching staff have become a cult hit with the Florida Gators. The videos and feature Luke and Skip, who are actually Furman senior Chris Rogers and recent graduate Patrick Sprague.

Pete Thamel of the New York Times learned about the popularity of the videos during a trip earlier this week to Gainesville for a story on offensive coordinator Dan Mullen's star student, Tim Tebow.

Luke and Skip explain the option attack on the video included with this post. Thamel has two other videos posted on The Quad and you can view the rest on this YouTube link.

The tired, old excuse that "Sports Overnight America" is on too late simply won't fly tonight. I'll be joining Fred Wallin beginning at 10 (Pacific) and we will crank it until the midnight hour. Then Lonnie White, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, will join me until 1 a.m. We're working on a surprise guest or two.

Listen live by clicking here and give a call by dialing 800-878-7529. Our men and women in the military can hear the show through the American Forces Network, available in 177 countries and U.S. territories along with all the Navy ships at sea.

We also asked Dennis for his opinion on which conference was the best in the land, his feelings on the Bowl Championship Series and thoughts regarding the 40/25 second clock rules. You'll want to hear everything he has to say. The podcast is 8:57 long and you can listen by clicking here.

Wiz podcasts are also available for download on iTunes. Click here to go to our link on iTunes or search the iTunes store for "The Wiz of Odds."

Michael Cunningham, South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Just in time because on Saturday Florida and Georgia are set to possibly decide which one-loss Southeastern Conference team might force its way into the Bowl Championship Series title game. The SEC is not the greatest college football conference in the universe. Far from it.

Eric Finley, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: It's probably the biggest game in Texas Tech history, but some season ticket holders are considering selling their tickets for Saturday's game against Texas for big bucks. Red Raider officials are hoping 17,000 fans show up for ESPN's "GameDay" broadcast, which would be a record.

Brian Murphy, Idaho Statesman: Sports merchandise giant Nike is preparing Boise State merchandise for potential appearances in the Orange, Fiesta, Sugar and Rose bowls. But don't get too excited: Nike is doing the same for all of its teams with a chance at a BCS game.

Ferd Lewis, Honolulu Advertiser: Hawaii is leaving on an 11-day, 7,064-mile, four-state trip that will keep the Warriors on the mainland for back-to-back games in an attempt to spare the players some of the rigors of travel and save the athletic department money. Hawaii will travel 33,264 miles and spend 26 days on the road this season.

Joseph Goodman, Miami Herald: Florida officials have apparently told linebacker Brandon Spikes to keep his political views to himself. Spikes has been outspoken in his support of Barack Obama.

Michael Murphy, Houston Chronicle: Houston's Patrick Edwards, who suffered a grisly break of his right leg Tuesday night, underwent surgery. The receiver is hopeful he can return to playing next season.

Rod Walton, Tulsa World: SemGroup LP co-founder Tom Kivisto, who has donated millions to Kansas football, has been fired from the company he helped start eight years ago.

Jeff White, Richmond Times-Dispatch: Virginia fullback Rashawn Jackson is facing grand larceny and breaking and entering charges. His status for Saturday's game against Miami is uncertain.

John Adams has never won an award for his writing, but he is a former collegiate athlete for a small college where everyone makes the team. Currently, he is a grad student at the University of Southern California studying the archaic form called print journalism. John points to Flutie’s Hail Mary as the birth of his love for college football, and Lloyd Carr’s tenure at Michigan as the beginning of his love of strong drink.

Week nine is now in the books and the discussion in college football turns to one thing and one thing only. It isn’t the season reaching the midway point, or the amazing games around the corner, or the ones recently witnessed. Instead, it is dominated by talk of a computer.

This computer talk is what fans point to when their complaints begin to spew over the Bowl Championship Series bungle.

Paul "Bear" Bryant is rolling in his grave as the BCS has replaced his famous quote, "Offense sells tickets; Defense wins championships!" with "Computers, strength of schedule and a computer-geek in a corner office decides who gets to play that championship-level defense."

Most experts in the field of college football would ask for a "plus-one" game pitting the winners of the top two bowl games against each other for the national championship. Others would go for the gusto and demand an eight-team playoff with the six major conference winners and two additional at-large teams chosen by the all-knowing computer man.

However, I am a forward thinker and know these "tournaments" will never fly with the BCS or presidents of the universities. So, I am calling for radical changes to determine the national champion. The top eight teams will compete in one of the following as selected by a spin of a huge wheel located at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend:

Option 1 — American GladiatorsEach team will compete as gladiators and contestants in the popular show, American Gladiators. I would love to see top college linemen going after each other in the Joust. Speedy receivers scaling up the Climbing Wall. Tight ends circling the linebackers as they attempt to win at Powerball. And who wouldn't love seeing elite running backs blazing through the Eliminator?

Option 2 — So You Think You Can DanceI don’t know exactly how this would work, but I am sure there would be a period of time where people would have to call in and vote for their favorite team. Whatever three teams had the lowest amount of votes, they would have to do a dance off. Who wouldn’t want to see the dance moves of a 350-pound offensive lineman?

Option 3 — Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?This would be an excellent opportunity to show off our student-athletes. The BCS could bring in fifth graders from the opposing team's city and put them against the star athletes. This would also be a great way to get the community involved.

Option 4 — Rotating OptionsThis would be a rotating option to add special games to address the ever-changing culture, such as Japanese Game Shows, Checkers, Rock Paper Scissors, etc.

If you are reading this and thinking, "How ridiculous!" please know that I am writing it and thinking the same thing. It is just as ridiculous as not having a playoff system in college football.

I am facing the reality I will not see a championship decided on the field that hasn't first been decided in some computer-nerd's tan cubicle. It saddens me and causes me to look toward March, and the madness of championships being decided by last shots, amazing teamwork and of course, defense.